Youth hunting morality question

[Radar]

I just dont see the hate toward a possum, they eat real good if you cut the yellow fat out.

[Jspradley]

Squirrel is one of the finest game meats there is!
As far as killing stuff just to kill it, I'm not a fan.


Small game hunting is an excellent intro to the practical and ethical side of hunting, sounds like you already know the right thing to do just by asking the question.

[simek]

My kid has been taught that we dont shoot what we don't eat. Pretty simple.

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[xman59]

My son is ate up with the outdoors, loves to hunt and fish. He is is seven and is just being introduced to BB guns, .22, shotguns etc. I’m teaching him gun safety and taking it slow so he has a healthy respect for weapons and hunting. I have taught him that you only shoot what you are willing to eat. But I’ve run into a problem because he wants to “practice” on squirrels, rabbits, and random birds (just like I did when I was that age). My wife reminds me of what I taught him and I’m conflicted on how I can sell her on letting him cut his teeth on little critters and I also don’t want to go back on what I told him. Before y’all tell me to just cook a squirrel, I’ll respectfully pass. Any thoughts on how to broach this. I’m sure y’all have navigated young, enthusiastic kiddos who wanna go out and plink some critters. Thoughts?


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squirrels and rabbits eat just fine,, along with assorted birds teach him which birds are protected let him kill and eat some that are not,,, likely the bird phase will pass quickly when he finds out how small most are,, and of course how good some are like dove and quail

[Low Fence]

I also bowfish... and I ain’t eating:

Shad
Buffalo
Carp
Bowfin
Spotted gar

But they need a good killing..... “just for the sake of killing” from time to time

[Native Texan]

Squirrels are "game animals" under TPWD regulations. Killing them and not keeping the meat in edible condition is considered wanton waste and will get you a ticket.

Teaching respect for ALL animals is an important early lesson for young hunters. If you're not going to eat it don't kill it.

[BangBang]

When I was young, we had a few outside cats. I would always walk out the door with my benjamin and tell my mom "I'm off to go get food for the cats". I didn't think about when I was younger, but now that I'm older I realize I wasn't being wasteful. No different from shooting coons or coyotes in my eyes. Kid has to sharpen his skills from an early age.

PS. Cats will not eat blackbirds, woodpeckers or field larks.

[BeerMe]

I think it’s a great general rule with common sense exceptions.

You really should try squirrel. I miss my grandpas squirrel gumbo!

[lovemylegacy]

My son is ate up with the outdoors, loves to hunt and fish. He is is seven and is just being introduced to BB guns, .22, shotguns etc. I’m teaching him gun safety and taking it slow so he has a healthy respect for weapons and hunting. I have taught him that you only shoot what you are willing to eat. But I’ve run into a problem because he wants to “practice” on squirrels, rabbits, and random birds (just like I did when I was that age). My wife reminds me of what I taught him and I’m conflicted on how I can sell her on letting him cut his teeth on little critters and I also don’t want to go back on what I told him. Before y’all tell me to just cook a squirrel, I’ll respectfully pass. Any thoughts on how to broach this. I’m sure y’all have navigated young, enthusiastic kiddos who wanna go out and plink some critters. Thoughts?


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Well, you show him how to clean said rabbit, squirrel and random birds, they are all tasty. Teach him various ways to cook said animals, they are tasty. I was taught this by my parents and grandparents. If I killed it, we cooked it and ate it. Many squirrels, rabbits, quail, woodcock, fell to my good aim. It taught me the value of Gods creations and the importance of not wasting game.

[tkuehn5410]

I've got a 10 yo and a 6 yo, and they love to hunt and shoot! I tell them they need to eat what they kill, and we eat rabbits(chicken), dove(beef), and whatever else they shoot in a roundabout manner. And btw, meadowlarks and sparrows are ok to eat, just lack the volume in the breast.

[flywise]

That's a fine rule ( must eat what you kill) but most of us killed all sorts of stuff growing up we didn't eat. I bought 11 ac so my son could roam the woods with his gamo. He is going to kill stuff we are not going to eat. He is developing his skills the way I see it. And he in not killing anywhere near what I did back in the day. As he gets older the rule applies much more.

[Mayhem]

Let the boys shoot. Squirrel and rabbit is fine table fair. My dad has the Mockingbird, Cardinal run when i was a kid.

I will never forget getting a .22 cal Benjamin pellet gun for Christmas as a kid. There wasn't anything after that.

[TxStrong]

We kill for 2 reasons in our house. Eating and “management”. Which to us means hogs, predators, and some small critters are going down ever year. Aim for a quick clean ethical kill regardless of what we are shooting. None of this “gut-shot them and let them run off and die somewhere else” stuff. We will teach our kiddos the same. This is Just what we do in our house.

If you were open to this idea of killing for eating and management, You could start teaching the boy about the management aspect. “We have too many squirrels, I think if we take X number this month/year/what ever then they will be in overall better shape” then turn him lose.

This allows the boy to shoot, while still adhering to some guidelines.

[Native Texan]

I was on a great hill country lease a few years ago...loaded with deer, turkey, and a few exotics. One weekend a few of the guys drove the roads shooting jackrabbits and left them where they fell. The rancher/landowner drove through tending his cows and saw what they had done and was NOT happy about it to say the least. We all got kicked off the lease for the actions of a couple of slobs. The same guys who only took the backstraps and hindquarters because they couldn't steak out the front shoulders and considered them unfit to eat.
Just because you can legally kill something doesn't mean you should. Most folks who don't hunt see no problem with killing animals to eat, but killing just to kill and wasting edible meat reflects bad on hunters as a whole and closes doors for all of us.

[N.DaWoods]

Man up. Eat squirrel and rabbit. Seriously, get out of your culinary comfort zone. They are both great table fare. This will teach him even more lessons, like trying new things, or not saying things your not sure about if your not willing to follow through on them.